Modern diagnostic techniques have provided highly sensitive tools capable of unprecedented informational capacity and throughput. Many techniques, such as the Papanicolaou staining method, have been well adapted to automated processes, which has further improved their consistency and reliability.
However, diagnostic techniques still suffer from age-old limitations in sample collection and patient compliance. Sampling processes, especially those which are difficult, highly invasive and/or painful, frequently result in inadequate specimens. Typically there is a delay between the time the sample is obtained and the time when the adequacy of the sample is determined, during which the patient has left the point of sampling. Upon learning that the sample is inadequate, the patient is presented with additional inconvenience, pain and recovery from a second sampling procedure. This frequently leads to missed resampling appointments. The danger of this is acute, particularly in younger patients who may have significant barriers to subjecting themselves to medical treatment. Often such younger patients are the very ones most likely to be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases, yet are the least likely to return should their original sample prove inadequate. Indeed, it may be difficult or impossible to contact patients who originally were tested in a confidential or anonymous setting.
Consequently, there is a need for a method for quickly determining cytological sample adequacy.